kissfandomcom-20200222-history
Eric Singer
Eric Doyle Mensinger (born May 12, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio), better known as Eric Singer AKA Catman is a Hard rock and Heavy Metal drummer for the rock band KISS and singer Alice Cooper. Over the past two decades Eric has appeared on over 50 albums. Singer began playing drums from an early age, and was inspired by bands such as Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, and Queen and drummers such as John Bonham, Cozy Powell, Roger Taylor, Bill Ward, and Buddy Rich. Early career Singer's first professional drumming job was as Lita Ford's touring drummer in 1984. In 1985 he joined Black Sabbath, replacing original drummer Bill Ward, who had left the band after the Live Aid reunion. Singer would participate in the recording of the albums Seventh Star and The Eternal Idol and was invited by his Black Sabbath colleague Ray Gillen to join the latter's new formed band Badlands. Singer accepted and played on the band's self-titled debut album. Singer left the group in 198], as he would join Paul Stanley as his touring drummer on his solo tour of United States and Canada. Career with Kiss In 1991, Eric Singer auditioned for KISS, after the death of their previous drummer Eric Carr. Singer, who had toured with Paul Stanley on his club tour along with Bob Kulick two years earlier, was hired and debuted with the band on the album Revenge. Singer drummed on Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions and toured with Kiss until 1996, when the band reunited with original drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley for the Alive/Worldwide Tour. After five relatively quiet years, during which Singer toured with Queen guitarist Brian May, he was asked to rejoin Kiss in 2001 after Criss' departure shortly before the Australian and Japanese leg of Kiss' Farewell tour. Singer debuted in full "Catman" make-up and costume for the first time on the tour, with some animosity, as the "Catman" look had been donned by Criss for many years of the band's success. Singer was replaced again by Criss in 2003 but returned to the band by the end of the year after Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley opted not to renew Criss' contract. Since then Singer has been playing drums in Kiss as their permanent drummer. In 2009, Singer along with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, played and sang on the new Kiss album Sonic Boom, the first studio album to feature the new line-up. Career with Alice Cooper and other projects Besides his work with Kiss, Singer has also been a permanent member of Alice Cooper's band since the release of the album Brutal Planet in 2000. Singer had already performed with Cooper years earlier, during the tour for the album Hey Stoopid. Singer has featured on three Alice Cooper albums to date, Brutal Planet, The Eyes Of Alice Cooper, and Along Came a Spider. He has also occasionally performed and recorded with his own Eric Singer Project, featuring, among others, his former Kiss bandmate Bruce Kulick and singer John Corabi. Three releases result from this collaboration: the studio album Lost And Spaced (1998), consisting completely of covers from classic rock songs; the live album Live In Japan (2006) and the DVD Live At The Marquee (2006). Singer has also played in the band Avantasia replacing drummer Alex Holzwarth after a guest performance in the song Into the Unknown from album The Metal Opera Part II. Two EPs and one full album have been released with Singer's performance on the drums: Lost in Space Part I, Lost in Space Part II, and The Scarecrow. Equipment Eric is a loyal endorser of Pearl drums, hardware and pedals, Attack drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals and Ddrum acoustic drum triggers. Current Kiss/Alice Cooper live set-up (2008-) Drums: Pearl Masterworks series Black Comet Sparkle Finish *26"x15" bass drum (with Kiss) / 26"x15" x2 (with Alice Cooper) *12"x8" tom *13"x8.5" tom *16"x14" floor tom *18"x16" floor tom *8"x8" tom (left of hi-hat) *10"x8" tom (left of hi-hat) *14"x6.5" Eric Singer Signature snare drum Cymbals: Zildjian *14" Avedis Rock Hi-Hat x1 *20" K Custom Ride x1 *19" Z Custom Medium Crash x8, 8” Splash on top (inverted) on 2 crashes *16" Oriental China Trash x1 *9,1/2” Zil-Bell x1 *8" Splash x1 (with Kiss) / x2 (with Cooper) *6" Splash x1 Percussion: Latin Percussion *LP Bongo Bell Chrome x1 Hardware: Pearl *C1000 straight stand x 5 *B2000 heavy boom stand *H2000 hi-hat stand *S2000 snare stand *P-2002C double pedal (with Kiss) *P2000C pedal x2 (with Cooper) *CH70 cymbal holder *T2000 double tom stand *75X cowbell holder *HA100 BD/HH attachment Sticks: Zildjian *"Eric Singer Artist Series" 2B drumsticks Electronics: Ddrum *Pro Drum Triggers (on each drum) Heads: *Attack drumheads Miscellaneous information Eric has his own Signature Series snare drum and artist series drumsticks, "Pearl Signature Series Eric Singer" snare drum and Zildjian "Eric Singer Artist Series" drumsticks. Eric's cymbal setups can include up to 8 of the same 19” Z Custom Rock crash cymbal. He also uses a mixture of clear and coated Attack drumheads which he uses mainly the Terry Bozzio models. Eric uses a variety of Pearl snares live and in the studio, including his own Signature model. He also has been known to use the Steve Ferrone signature snare, various Brass models and Free Floating snares for live use. Discography With Black Sabbath * Seventh Star * The Eternal Idol With Badlands * External links *The Official Eric Singer Website Category:Musicians Category:Members